Method and system to improve link budget of a wireless system

Abstract

A method and system to improve the link budget of a wireless system using fast Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) protocol. In one embodiment of the invention, the Medium Access Control (MAC) logic in a base station determines whether the quality of the communication link with a mobile station is bad. When the MAC logic in the base station determines that the quality is bad, the base station uses a fast Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) protocol to indicate to the mobile station to send identical information to the base station in each of a plurality of successive or consecutive communication intervals before processing any received identical information from the mobile station. The fast HARQ protocol reduces the latency of receiving the identical information correctly, as compared with the current HARQ protocol.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A user equipment (UE) comprising:
 an antenna; and 
 physical layer (PHY) logic coupled with the antenna, the PHY logic to:
 identify information; and 
 transmit, to an evolved NodeB (eNB) via the antenna, the information in each of a plurality of successive communication time intervals, wherein a number of the plurality of successive communication time intervals is equal to a repetition factor that is to be used to send the information to the eNB. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The UE of  claim 1 , wherein the information is to be transmitted to the eNB in a first interval of the plurality of successive communication time intervals and a second interval of the plurality of successive communication time intervals without waiting for feedback from the eNB between the first and the second intervals. 
     
     
       3. The UE of  claim 1 , wherein the repetition factor is based on an indication received from the eNB. 
     
     
       4. The UE of  claim 3 , wherein the indication is based on a detection, by the eNB, that a link quality of a link between the UE and the eNB is bad. 
     
     
       5. The UE of  claim 1 , wherein the repetition factor is a repetition factor related to a repetition coding scheme. 
     
     
       6. A user equipment (UE) comprising:
 means to identify information; and 
 means to transmit, to an evolved NodeB (eNB), the information in each of a plurality of successive communication time intervals, wherein a number of the plurality of successive communication time intervals is equal to a repetition factor that is to be used to send the information to the eNB. 
 
     
     
       7. The UE of  claim 6 , further comprising means to transmit the information to the eNB in a first interval of the plurality of successive communication time intervals and a second interval of the plurality of successive communication time intervals without waiting for feedback from the eNB between the first and the second intervals. 
     
     
       8. The UE of  claim 6 , further comprising means to transmit the information in the each of a plurality of successive communication time intervals based on an indication received from the eNB. 
     
     
       9. The UE of  claim 8 , wherein the indication is based on a detection, by the eNB, that a link quality of a link between the UE and the eNB is bad. 
     
     
       10. The UE of  claim 8 , wherein the indication is an indication of the repetition factor. 
     
     
       11. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprising instructions to cause one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), upon execution of the instructions by the one or more processors, to:
 identify information; and 
 transmit, to an evolved NodeB (eNB), the information in each of a plurality of successive communication time intervals, wherein a number of the plurality of successive communication time intervals is equal to a repetition factor that is to be used to send the information to the eNB. 
 
     
     
       12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions are further to transmit the information to the eNB in a first interval of the plurality of successive communication time intervals and a second interval of the plurality of successive communication time intervals without waiting for feedback from the eNB between the first and the second intervals. 
     
     
       13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions are further to transmit the information in the each of a plurality of successive communication time intervals based on an indication received from the eNB. 
     
     
       14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 13 , wherein the indication is based on a detection, by the eNB, that a link quality of a link between the UE and the eNB is bad. 
     
     
       15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 11 , wherein the repetition factor is a repetition factor related to a repetition coding scheme. 
     
     
       16. An evolved NodeB (eNB) comprising:
 a processor; and 
 one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media with instructions thereon that, upon execution of the instructions by the processor, cause the eNB to:
 identify identical information received in each of a plurality of successive communication time intervals, wherein a number of the plurality of successive communication time intervals is equal to a repetition factor that is to be used by a user equipment (UE) to send the information to the eNB; and 
 process the identical information. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The eNB of  claim 16 , wherein the identical information is received in a first one of the plurality of successive communication time intervals and a second one of the plurality of successive communication time intervals without a transmission of a request from the eNB between the first and the second ones of the plurality of successive communication time intervals. 
     
     
       18. The eNB of  claim 16 , wherein the information is received in the each of a plurality of successive communication time intervals based on an indication transmitted from the eNB. 
     
     
       19. The eNB of  claim 18 , wherein the indication is an indication of the repetition factor. 
     
     
       20. The eNB of  claim 16 , wherein the repetition factor is a repetition factor related to a repetition coding scheme.